Oliver Sacks, the author of a book entitled Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, is also a practicing physician, and professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center. I first picked up the book in the name of research for my volunteering with a hospice organization, specifically with music enhanced therapy. In the preface, he mentions a novel by Arthur C Clarke, Childhood's End, in which an alien race visits Earth in an attempt to understand the human fascination with "playing and listening to meaningless tonal patterns". They, a race without music, see no biological or adaptive purpose to this exercise. But Sacks goes on to explain--
But for virtually all of us, music has great power, whether or not we seek it out or think of ourselves as particularly "musical". This propensity to music- this "musicophila"- shows itself in infancy, is manifest and central in every culture, and probably goes back to the very beginnings of our species. It may be developed or shaped by the cultures we live in, by the circumstance of life, or by the -particular gifts or weaknesses we have as individuals--but it lies so deep in human nature that one is tempted to think of it as innate...We listen to, play, study, and create music both actively and passively in our daily lives. However, "there is no single "music center" in the brain, but the involvement of a dozen scattered networks throughout the brain." Utilizing various parts of the brain, new connections are formed through music. For example, the left frontal lobe identifies facts and patterns while the right frontal lobe love creativity, the occipital lobes processed what you see ad the auditory complex process what you hear, meanwhile the amygdala gauges emotional reactions and the hippocampus connects all of that to memories and experiences. For this very reason, music therapy is highly effective in helping Parkinson, Alzheimer, and Huntington patients as well as many conditions affecting muscle coordination as there is a motoric response in the muscles to music.
If you can't tell, I'm geeking out a bit about this. I went to a music store the other day to expand my music variety a bit and got Motown Hits, Aretha Franklin, 101 Classical Themes, and Phil Collins among others. I've been enjoying experimenting and playing with the music as I think of how to share it with my friends in hospice.
I couldn't help but see the similarities to this concept of music and the brain to the gospel and each of us. As much as music is seemingly innate, the light of Christ and the truths of the gospel are part of our divine heritage. No matter the culture or circumstance, there is music and there is truth. In Doctrine and Covenants 88:40 it reminds us that "intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course and claimeth its own;" Just like music, there is truth in many places and many forms. And similar to the way music uses and connects the entire brain, I have come to feel that way about the gospel. It is a whole mind, whole soul endeavor-- to learn, connect, and apply the scriptures and principles of the gospel in our lives. I find parallels and analogies all the time in daily life that pertain to the gospel as I make connections using every part of this mortal experience. And just like how I can't wait to share a great new song, I love sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because it makes me happy and I want to share that joy with those I care about.
No comments:
Post a Comment